It gives women confidence. It gives women headaches. It can improve their attitude and empty their wallets.

It can be worn for a day or alter a woman's face for the rest of her lifetime.

Makeup.

It can be bold and colorful or subtle and understated, but whatever way, finding out how to wear makeup is a learning process and finding the right makeup for a woman's personal style can become a lifelong quest.

Wooster resident Michele Abel should know; it took her until adulthood to find the right cosmetics.

"I think for most of the women that I've really come across it's because they never learned how," Abel said. "Nobody ever taught them how to apply eye shadow or eyeliner and a friend will tell them, 'Hey, how about you come to this with me.'"

As a girl Abel wasn't allowed to wear makeup, and like many others it took a while before she was given the opportunity to learn how.

"I think it was right before I was married, I realized I needed to figure something out," Abel said. "We don't learn it when we're younger and I think people just put it off a long time."

But once Abel found Mary Kay products, makeup started to make sense to her, she said. After using the products for 10 years, she became a representative. Now, Abel spends her time helping women learn the tricks and techniques behind cosmetics.

"I have seen women change from the moment they walk in when it's just, 'Here I am' and they don't wear makeup and they don't take care of their skin and they are self conscious, to then having the other woman around the table say you look great, you should wear that all the time," Abel said. "It changes their life."

The makeup get-togethers Abel stages center around the idea of making cosmetics fun. Women are more likely to take chances and try new things if they are having fun, she said.

"They are afraid to try it and think they might look worse with makeup," she said.

Miller, an Avon representative, went to cosmetology school.

Sometimes, she said, it isn't about how to use makeup, but about not knowing what makeup to use.

"I've run across a few women that say they don't wear foundation because they say it's too heavy," Miller said. "I just try to recommend what I think would work best."

Through her salon, New Image Beauty Salon in Killbuck, Deb Stradler has helped women discover the power of cosmetics.

"A lot of times we'll have people say, 'I just don't know how to do it. I've never done it,'" she said.

Stradler has seen firsthand the power makeup has on the confidence of a woman, whether it's a blushing bride or a 16-year-old going to her first prom.

"A lot of times when we have wedding parties, we have young attendants that don't usually wear makeup," she said.

That first introduction to cosmetics can be a very positive experience, even leading women to come back later and learn more about the processes.

For those who need a little more instructional help with color as well as products and application, there's the option of hiring a personal style consultant.

Style consultants work with an individual to help determine what colors, makeup and even clothing complement their personality, body and taste.

"When we help people see the great things about themselves, about their facial features and their body, it's transforming," said Rhoda Troyer, owner of Rig and Co. Image Consultants in Millersburg.

Troyer is a certified image consultant and stages workshops that center around color. Consultants help women determine what colors complement their skin tone and highly natural assets.

The professionals at Rig and Co. teach clients how to apply color cosmetics according to lifestyle as well as the shape of features. Lifestyle is something a lot of women have to consider when deciding how much and what kinds of cosmetics to use, Troyer said.

"Do you have any skin conditions? Do you have any problems? What do you want? What do you not want?" Troyer asked.

Rig and Co. experiments with a "hodgepodge of a bunch of different things" ranging from Victoria's Secret to cosmetics straight off the shelves of Wal-Mart. It is not looking for name, she said, just what works best for clients.

Troyer remembers one client who had a skin condition that left her without eyebrows or eyelashes.

"We have a client with a hair condition, I don't know what it's called, but she doesn't actually have facial hair and when we showed her how to make it look like she had facial hair the confidence level boost was huge," Troyer said.

For women who don't want to spend the money to get trained by a professional, don't need advice on color and aren't looking for a special product, there are a few simple things professionals recommended that will highlight a woman's assets.

Troyer recommends women use a facial moisturizer. Not a hand lotion, but a moisturizer specifically designed for the delicate skin of the face. It will help in the anti-aging battle, she said.

For similar reasons, Miller recommends women use a moisturizing night cream before going to bed.

"While it's sleeping the skin goes through a lot," Miller said. "While you're sleeping the skin's rubbing on the pillow and losing moisture."

As for makeup, if nothing else, Troyer recommends a woman wear a little lip gloss and mascara. Stradler recommends a quick powder foundation as well. Many women complain about the time it takes to rub in liquid foundation, but powder foundation is quick and can help conceal blemishes, Stradler said.

She reminds women to check their jaw line because many times women will not blend makeup in enough, making a distinct edge appear between the face and neck.

Another common mistake Able has seen is women will use soap and water to clean their skin and remove makeup.

"Soap and water is not going to do the same as a quality product," she said.

Kathy Durst, though, doesn't have any soap and water issues. After all, she goes to bed in her makeup and gets up with a flawless face. Her makeup is tattooed to her face.

Durst is a dermatician and specializes in permanent makeup. Permanent makeup essentially is a tattoo with some definite differences.

"We don't use ink we use pigment and it's much more refined," she said. "We use different machines than the ones used for the body."

Durst discovered permanent makeup when she was a stewardess. Some of the women she worked with were going to Korea where the process was popular as an attempt to deal with the hectic suitcase lifestyle of an airline employee.

Durst owns All Ways Beautiful By Kathy, in Mogadore, where she permanently applies eyeliner, lip liner, lip color and blush.

Permanent makeup can be used to give eyebrows and the illusion of eyelashes to women who may have lost their hair to chemotherapy. The same techniques and machines also are used to camouflage scars, Durst said.

Whether it's mineral makeup, or Mary Kay, Avon or always on. In a bottle or on a brush. Permanent or a passing phase, women will always turn to makeup for one reason, Troyer said.

"To just make better what they already have."

Reporter Katy Ganz can be reached at (330) 674-1811 or e-mail kganz@the-daily-record.com.

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